When Mark Zuckerberg found out that all the domain names related to Facebook had been registered by Li Mu, his confidence, and even his worldview collapsed in an instant.
Before this moment, Li Mu was a beacon, a godfather, and a mentor in Mark Zuckerberg's eyes. After this moment, Li Mu was a god in his eyes. A true god.
Mark Zuckerberg was like Sun Wukong in the palm of Buddha. He couldn't escape from the shroud of God.
Mark Zuckerberg would never know that Li Mu, as a reincarnated person, already knew his future development path and set up a roadblock in advance. It was as if someone had used a mind-reading spell to read his deepest thoughts. Hence, his shock to Li Mu was indescribable.
Mark Zuckerberg took a long time to recover from the shock. He was already full of admiration for Li Mu. He asked him, "Li Zong, did you already have the same product plan as me?"
Li Mu nodded and smiled. "I had the idea for Facebook a long time ago, but I didn't have the time and energy to do it. After all, it's not a project that I'm in a hurry to start. I just didn't expect the two of us to have the same idea. Since you have the same idea, I can confidently hand this project over to you."
It was originally Mark Zuckerberg's original project, but in Li Mu's words, it became his original project. Then, he authorized this project to Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark Zuckerberg didn't feel anything strange. On the contrary, he was extremely touched by Li Mu's generosity.
For Mark Zuckerberg, his only advantage was the idea of the product. However, Li Mu made him think that his only advantage was worthless in front of Li Mu. Li Mu had money, a team, resources, and the idea of Facebook's product. In this case, Li Mu could develop it himself. There was no need to hand this project to a young man like him.
However, Li Mu could have done it himself, but he still gave this project to Mark Zuckerberg. This made Mark Zuckerberg feel like a gentleman would die for a bosom friend. At this moment, he just wanted to do his best to complete the Facebook project to repay Li Mu's generosity.
Mark Zuckerberg said solemnly, "Mr. Li, if you really give this project to me, I will do my best to do it!"
Li Mu nodded and said, "Okay, you will be in charge of the Facebook project from now on!"
After that, Li Mu threw out his offer and said, "I will invest 5 million USD according to the valuation I gave you before, for 49% of Facebook's shares. However, I have another request. I want to use my external fund to invest 10% of the shares. Similarly, my external fund will invest 1.02 million USD according to the valuation, and the remaining 41% of the shares will belong to you."
Mark Zuckerberg was dumbfounded. He looked at Li Mu and said, "Mr. Li, this is your project, your money, and your domain name. How can I get such a high share …"
At this time, all of Mark Zuckerberg's pride and confidence had basically surrendered to Li Mu. He no longer saw himself as an entrepreneur who used his ideas to attract investments. Therefore, 41% of the shares was a little scary for him.
Li Mu estimated that if he proposed to reduce Mark Zuckerberg's shares to less than 30%, Mark Zuckerberg would agree without hesitation.
However, Li Mu didn't do that.
He didn't want to exploit Mark Zuckerberg's shares. He just wanted to have enough control over the future of Facebook. This way, he could ensure that Facebook would become his next super product.
Mark Zuckerberg didn't dare to accept Li Mu's 41% shares at first. However, because Li Mu was determined not to reduce his shares, Mark Zuckerberg gratefully agreed to Li Mu's offer.
Then, Li Mu began to have a more in-depth discussion with Mark Zuckerberg.
In addition to the distribution of shares, as an investor, Li Mu had many other requirements, including how to ensure that Mark Zuckerberg was tied to the project and how to ensure Mark Zuckerberg's actual benefits.
First of all, Mark Zuckerberg, as the project leader, had to promise not to leave the Facebook project within five years. His 41% shares would be paid in installments over five years and sixty months.
In other words, for every month that Mark Zuckerberg stayed in the Facebook project, he could get 0.68% of the shares. If he wanted to leave after ten months, he would only get 6.8% of the shares.
Secondly, if Mark Zuckerberg wanted to leave before the five years were up, he would not be able to exercise his shares freely. Li Mu and the funds established by Li Mu's companies would have the right of first refusal, and the purchase price would be based on the valuation of the most recent financing.
For example, if Mark Zuckerberg wanted to leave after only ten months, and the company did not carry out a new round of financing in those ten months, he would actually get 6.8% of the shares. Then, the 6.8% would be cashed out according to the initial valuation of 10.2 million US dollars. Mark Zuckerberg would actually get nearly 700,000 US dollars, and the rest of the shares would all be taken back by the company.
Thirdly, Mark Zuckerberg could get 41% of the shares after five years. If there was any financing dilution, his 41% would also be diluted.
Finally, if Mark Zuckerberg wanted to leave Facebook after getting all the shares, and Facebook wasn't listed yet, his shares would still be acquired by Li Mu and Li Mu's funds, and the price would still be based on the valuation of the most recent financing.
If Facebook was already listed, then Mark Zuckerberg's shares could be freely exercised in the market. However, as a shareholder, he had to be responsible for the overall development of the company. Therefore, he couldn't sell all his shares at once to avoid an impact on the company's stock price. He had to sell his shares over five years, and he could reduce his shares by 20% each year. Of course, he could also choose not to sell his shares.
The set of rules that Li Mu had formulated for Mark Zuckerberg was basically in line with the entire capital market. Moreover, for most capitalists, Li Mu's plan was already very fair and benevolent. It ensured that Mark Zuckerberg would be able to get all the shares as long as he stayed in Muye Technology for five years. It also ensured that he would be able to get the returns he deserved at any time he left in between.
It was very rare for an investor to do this. In the seemingly sophisticated Internet industry, there were no fewer cases of fraud than in other industries. In this industry, integrity and character were trampled more thoroughly.
In the history of the Internet, countless successful big shots had the "stain" of feeling guilty to their partners. When they started a business together, they were all good brothers. Once the business was successful, they would immediately draw their swords and fight each other. In this industry, once there was money, people's nature would immediately be exposed.
Some people went back on their word, some people killed the donkey after it was no longer of use, some people went back on their word, and some people even backstabbed others. Dirty things were common in the internet industry. In almost every successful project, there were core members who were sacrificed, exploited, and treated unfairly.
The phenomenon of one general's success was particularly common in the Internet capital circle. Whether it was Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, their development history would inevitably have such stains. Li Mu was relatively regarded as a gentleman in the Internet industry. All those who worked with him, as long as they did things according to his requirements, would be able to get the returns they deserved.
Mark Zuckerberg almost immediately agreed to a series of Li Mu's requirements.
For him, to be able to get such a share and such treatment for such a project was already a great thing from the sky, so he had no objections to Li Mu's offer.
Li Mu immediately asked Li Ziwei to contact his capital expert, Ding Zhenglin, and asked him to set up an investment fund in China as soon as possible. Makino Technology, Taobao, and Alipay would jointly invest one billion yuan in the future Internet industry in a 4: 3: 3 ratio. The first investment project was Facebook.
At the same time, Li Mu asked Lin Ching-ah to arrange for someone to register Facebook in the United States with Mark Zuckerberg. As long as the company was registered successfully, Li Mu would immediately inject capital into the company.
After Li Mu had arranged everything, Mark Zuckerberg asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, do you think I need to drop out of school immediately?"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "Don't be in a hurry to drop out of school. Don't forget the development position you gave Facebook. The early stage has to start from a university. If you have already left a university, then you will lose the best promotion identity. So I suggest you continue to stay at Harvard and do the first stage of Facebook well. After the first stage is completed, if the time is right, you can drop out of school and devote yourself to the Internet industry."
Mark Zuckerberg immediately agreed, "I'll listen to you!"
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Once the project starts, all the plans, pace, and budget will be decided by you. After you decide, you just need to give me a plan and let me know your plan. I won't interfere with your plan unless it's absolutely necessary. Also, if you need additional investment and you don't have enough cash to inject capital, you can lead the company to carry out financing. Then, you can treat me as an investor and write a business-plan, your valuation, and financing target. I will arrange for professionals to come in and do the financing. All of this will be done according to the standard financing process."
Facebook was an extremely large project. 6.02 million USD was not enough to push this project too far. Therefore, it had to go through rounds of financing, diluting its shares to obtain cash while increasing its performance and market value.
Since it was going to be financed, whether it was Li Mu himself or external investors, the shareholders would have to dilute their shares. However, if Li Mu invested in it himself, he could avoid diluting his own shares. On the contrary, he could increase the shares he actually controlled by diluting Mark Zuckerberg's shares. Why not?
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